The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Rudbeckia plant, botanically known as Rudbeckia fulgida and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Early Bird Gold’.
The new Rudbeckia is a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Goldstrum’, not patented. The new Rudbeckia was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within a population of plants of ‘Goldstrum’ in a controlled greenhouse environment in Plaquemine, La. in June, 2005.
Asexual reproduction of the new Rudbeckia by tissue culture in a controlled greenhouse environment in Plaquemine, La. since Feb. 1, 2007 has shown that the unique features of this new Rudbeckia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.